The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith (yawn)

This is my first Jennifer E. Smith read! (I know she’s written quite a few books.) It was sweet but…unimpressive?

Thanks Hachette Australia for the e-ARC from NetGalley! The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith hits shelves on 15th of April, 2014.

Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and eleventh floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they’re rescued, they spend a single night together, wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is restored, so is reality. Lucy soon moves to Edinburgh with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father.

Lucy and Owen’s relationship plays out across the globe as they stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and — finally — a reunion in the city where they first met.

A carefully charted map of a long-distance relationship, Jennifer E. Smith’s new novel shows that the center of the world isn’t necessarily a place. It can be a person, too.

Jennifer E. Smith is the author of This Is What Happy Looks Like, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, The Storm Makers, You Are Here, and The Comeback Season. She earned a master’s degree in creative writing from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and her work has been translated into twenty-nine languages.

I like contemporaries, I really do! But I like books that have a point…you know, besides One True Love. Yes I’m the Grinch of Happily Ever After. But the only thing I really felt was accomplished in The Geography of You and Me was a love story. And travel. Lots of travel.

I’m asking for a little bit more than that.

The writing was good, but it did get fluffy at times. Lots of description…loooots of telling. They went here. They did this. They thought that. Yawn. What about the action? What about the dialogue?! I love contemporaries and their dialogue, but this was pretty lacking in the awesome banter section. Why? Because THEY WERE NEVER TOGETHER.

And the geography of the thing — the geography of them — was completely and hopelessly wrong. (THE GEOGRAPHY OF YOU AND ME)

That saying, I do love travel stories. Who doesn’t?! I liked getting sneak peeks into England and Scotland. It starts off in New York, and the description was so vivid I basically felt like I was in New York. Very cool. But it also starts off with a nation-wide blackout.

Is it just me or…? City without power + teenagers alone = ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE.

I knew it wasn’t going in that direction, but still, peoples, stay out of the streets. It’s probably a virus.

So why the low rating? I loved lots of stuff in this book, yes, but…frankly I was bored. NOTHING HAPPENED. Normally I’d shelve this as 2-stars, except I enjoyed the first 30% quite a lot. The rest? I mean, come on! It’s called the GEOGRAPHY of you and me. Someone’s going to get together and start kissing. The only conflict was the oceans in between our two desperate lovers.

Well, maybe not “desperate lovers”. Lucy and Owen were kind of in-denial-lovers. But I understand that. They were only together 24 hours. What was the attraction again? Just…I love you? Nothing else? Common hobbies, or sizzling conversations, or maybe…oh good gosh. Forget it.

This is a romance with lots of countries in it. That’s about it.

Cait spent a ridiculous amount of time making the banner for this post. And she’s SO STINKIN’ PROUD OF IT. The blues match and everything! Woot. Go PicMonkey skills. On an unrelated topic, she’s very exciting to Mime is on school holidays. She has delicious and evil things planned. Currently she’s reading CROWN OF MIDNIGHT.

Comments

I like that you put "yawn" in the title so I knew immediately what to expect, hah. I think the blurbs and covers for this author's books are SO cute, but I've heard such mixed things about them that I'm hesitant to try them. Like you, I like a teensy weensy bit more to my romances than just romances, so…..it will probably be awhile before I give these books a shot. Appreciate the confirmation that I'm okay to wait for awhile. ;)Wendy @ The Midnight Garden

I'm awfully blunt sometimes, eh? x) BUT ANYWAY. Romances are all well and good, but…character development? I mean, honestly, if the zombies had popped out in that blackout it would've been an aaamazing romance. *focus Cait this is a CONTEMPORARY*

I hate to say it, but I'm not surprised. I read The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight a few years ago and these reviews (lack of FEELS-wise) could be interchangeable. Sure, it had fun moments, but overall . . . MEH. On a happier note, both the banner AND Crown of Midnight rock, so yay! for that ;)Jessica @ Rabid Reads

Isn't the Statistical Probability getting made into a movie??! I need to read it because of that, but otherwise, I'm awfully unimpressed. N'awww, thaaaanks. XD I had a bit of fun with that banner and OMG. CROWN OF MIDNIGHT. OMG.

I have this one requested at the library! I love your GIFs for this post, they work so well with the whole geography not working out for this couple. I am really excited for the first 30% and then we will have to see if the rest I enjoy more than you did!Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings

Aww…sorry this one didn't work for you as much as you wished it would Cait! I can definitely see where you're coming from…I'm not a huge fan of books that are boring for 70% of the story or contemporaries that are uber-fluffy. Anyway, thanks for sharing Cait, and, as always, brilliant review! <3(PS That banner is full of awesomeness! xD)

Contemporary fluff I can stand sometimes…but, like, I just need a little more gumption in it, I suppose. The only thing that makes it stand out is the fact that the characters move all the time. x) Why THANK YOU. My designing skills are coming in…*coughcough*

I read The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and I liked it but not enough to read her other books. I guess I'm not missing out. And hey, I LOVE the gifs! LOVE LOVE them! They make me laugh so hard and they are so appropriate. Two thumbs up :)Bethzaida @ Bookittyblog

Isn't the Statistical Probability getting made into a movie or something??! I feel like I should read it just in case, but seriously, motivation is like 0% at the moment. We'll see. YAY! I'm SO FREAKISHLY GLAD you like the gifs!!

I didn't know that this wasn't out yet. It was already available in our bookstore so I already picked it up since I've read 2 of her other novels and thought they were cute (3-3.5 stars). I do think this author lacks in the fun banter department. And congratulations on the pretty banner! 😀

ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE. RUN! Or walk. Or die. Whatever. I did love it (as her previous ones) but I do get what you're saying. It was only a love story (and I'm a sucker for them, well, mainly when it comes to Jennifer E Smith) and I loved it more because I love travel books, same with road trip ones. But at some point in the story, I did hate the characters choices. Loving the banner, I kind of want to steal it. But I won't. Promise. 🙂Kirsty @ StudioReads

Travel books are their own kinds of awesome. Like I said, too, I reeeally enjoyed getting to "see" other places. It was like such a cool peek into NYC. I enjoyed that. 😉 N'awwww…!! I really felt so proud of that banner. I'm like a two year old with crayons, honestly. XD

Hahahaa I love this review! As usual they are the best.I've actually been AVOIDING her books, I remember my friend recommended The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and I was like no. Later I found out that she didn't like it. I just had a feeling it wouldn't be very action-y and the plot would be somewhat boring. Same with this book. So when I first saw it on NetGalley, I knew. But obviously everyone has their own opinions haha.

*commences crazy happy dance*It's crazy how we all insist on our own opinions, right? 😉 HARRR just kidding! Nah, I'd say skip this one, it's not worth it, particularly if you've never felt interested in the first place. I really missed seeing any chemistry between the main characters as well.

I get your point about books needing a point but I enjoy this style of pointless fluffy fun romance. Despite me feeling differently about this book – your review made me laugh. And not just because of the Enchanted gif 😛 Great review as always.

Haha, I love the Enchanted gifs! I had been tempted by this one but ended up not requesting it in the end. I am glad I didn't, it doesn't sound like a very interesting read. I like a good contemporary, but it needs to be an exciting, interesting read. This sounds pretty dull.

Hahaahha, the Enchanted gifs in this one took this review to a whole new level of awesome. I have read two other books by Jennifer and gave them 3-3.5 stars. They're really cute c: But like you said they lack any other substance than just cute. Like it's nothing more than just a romance. I'm sorry you didn't find this one to be more than just that /: I'm still unsure if I'll read this one, hmmm.Great review! (:

I honestly don't have time for 3-star reads. (OMG I'm sooo mean!) I just…I want to adore every book, and obviously I can't but I really get frustrated with lukewarm reads because, come onnnn, I don't get passionate about them. I just feel "meh".

Sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy this one so much. I haven't picked up this series yet, I hope to. I hate books where there is too much traveling. I feel like I'm sitting with the characters just waiting for something to happen. I understand and actually enjoy learning about other places in the world. But I don't need to know everything they did every day, every night and every place they went. So I know where you are coming from and I assure you, you're not alone (:Lisa http://www.turningpages94.blogpost.com

I like seeing the world in books, too, because goodness knows when I'm going to do it for real. XD I'm dying to see Paris…so faintly sad they went to Scotland instead of Paris. XD The tedious boringness? You and me both then. x)

"This is a romance with lots of countries in it" HA! Yeah, I'm thinking this will be a no for me. I was never in love with the cover either, c'mon, be a bit more creative people! I'm completely with you in my love for dialogue and action. This sort of sounds like a snooze fest with some good things happening, but only some.

Oh jeezuz you know I've never seen that movie – I guess I need to. I just don't watch enough tv! I know exactly what you mean – if you loved lots of things about it but the overall reading experience is boring or blah – then ultimately its still a fail. So sad to hear.

Oh man, that premise sounded so fun too, but I totally agree. When there's a city wide blackout the first thing I think about is zombies or aliens or even a cyber attack. Not…love. AND IN NEW YORK. Who wanders around in the dark in NY?! It's a dangerous city! It sucks this one was so boring, I'm probably going to skip it now. Wonderful review lovely xx

I've been seeing a lot of similar reviews. Cute and fluffy but not much story to it. But that's kind of how this author's books have always gone to me. Hmm…for some reason, I thought this was one of those "it happened all in one night stories". 🙁

Hahaha! Your reviews crack me up! I'm sorry you didn't love this one. I loved The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by this author, and I want to read more by her, but you make some very valid points. I also enjoy contemporary novels, but my books HAVE to have more than just a love story. So…maybe I'll wait on this one. Great review!